


A Pair of Miracles

by Skalidra



Category: DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Joyfire Week 2017, Multi, Secret Identity, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-18
Updated: 2017-08-18
Packaged: 2018-12-17 00:35:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11840331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skalidra/pseuds/Skalidra
Summary: When Jason first wakes up on a ship he isn't familiar with he doesn't know what's happened, but it soon becomes clear. A storm, a shipwreck, and a rescue by a band of pirates thankfully unaware that Jason's part of a noble family. It's just a question of how long he can keep that lie up, and whether he can make it on the ship long enough to get back to Gotham.





	A Pair of Miracles

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome! This is my contribution to [Joyfire Week](https://joyfire-week.tumblr.com/) over on Tumblr, written for Day 4: Undercover // Royalty. I decided to just combine the two prompts into one, and pirates are always fun. Enjoy!

Jason groans out a breath as he wakes, tasting salt and blood on his tongue and feeling like he's been wrung out to dry like some piece of cloth. Except that as his eyes crack open, and he swallows — painfully; saliva rasping down his throat like it's been scraped raw — he realizes he feels _heavy_ in a very familiar, wet sort of way. He's soaked through, even though the sun is glaring down at him and he's definitely no longer actually in the water. He can feel the solidity of a wooden deck beneath him, and the world is shifting in the gentle, familiar roll of the sea.

Whatever _jackass_ shoved him in is going to get a piece of his fucking mind. Nearly drowning crew members is _not funny_ , and any bastard that would do it to his own captain deserves at least the nastiest jobs on the ship, if not an actual flogging. He doesn't like to dole out physical punishment, but given how he feels he's really reconsidering that stance. Maybe just this once.

He opens his eyes a little more, turning his head away from the sun and starting to shift onto his side. There's the scuff of footsteps, a pleased sound, and then shade falls over him and he squints up at the figure crouching above him.

The man says, "You're awake!" at about the same time as Jason starts to realize that something is wrong.

There's no one on his ship with long red hair like that, and his clothing… That's not a uniform. That's worn leather and cotton and absolutely no insignia or color theme to mark him as part of any sort of military. That only leaves merchants or pirates, and given the hilt of a sword at his waist and the pair of pistols buckled in at his sides, Jason is pretty sure that this man isn't a merchant. That's… That's not good. Pirates aren't particularly well known for their mercy when it comes to soldiers (and sometimes even less when it comes to nobles, as much as Jason usually tries to avoid using that term to describe himself).

He tries to pull away, but the base of his skull gives a sharp throb and it drives a low grunt from him. His eyes squeeze shut, but they snap back open when he feels a hand cup the side of his cheek and guide his head back down.

"Hey," the man murmurs, "easy now. It looks like you hit your head pretty hard, sailor. Take it slow."

Hit his head? He doesn't…

He swallows again, trying to wet his lips and mostly failing. "Where… Where am I?" he manages to rasp.

The man frowns a little bit, reaching for something at his waist. Jason probably would have flinched, but his reflexes are too shot for him to react before the hand comes back, and then it's just holding a flask. "Here, drink some of this. It'll help."

The flask is guided to his lips, the other hand helping him lift his head to a bit of an angle. He's expecting some sort of alcohol, but to his surprise it's only water; sweet and cool and maybe the best thing he's ever tasted. He lifts a hand to take the flask himself, and the man lets him have it. The hand curled carefully around the back of his skull and through his hair stays though, keeping his head up. Jason tries to force himself to drink slowly, but it isn't long before he's drained the flask. A careful hand takes it back from him as he swallows; it's easier now, less like it's scratching the whole way down.

"There, better?" The man smiles down at Jason when he nods. "Good. Come on, let's get you up."

He likes to think that he helps at least a little bit when the man takes his arm and shoulder and pulls him up to sitting, leaning him back against something wooden. In all honesty, he's probably about as much help as he actually feels like, which is none. A glance to the side tells him that he's leaning against the bulwark, but even turning his head that slight amount makes it ache. He settles for looking at his… rescuer? The long red hair is partially woven into thin braids, but much of it hangs free. Now he can tell that the eyes watching him in return are green, since the sun isn't shading all his features. There's activity on the rest of the ship, movement and noise, but Jason doesn't feel quite up to trying to focus on any of that yet.

"I'm Roy," the man offers, still crouching before him and not looking like he has any plans to go anywhere. "Tell me your name?"

Answering, "Jason," is automatic. "I… How did I get here? I don't— I don't remember."

Roy's expression slips to something slightly harder, but almost apologetically bracing. "We were investigating a wreck; you were on top of some of pieces left floating. I'm sorry, it looks like the ship went down in the storm."

Jason blinks, brow drawing together as he tries to recall. For a few moments there's nothing, just an empty blackness where he knows he should remember things, but then… Yes, there was… was a large storm. Lightning. Waves big enough to swamp the deck, even when they breached the crests head on. Something… _cracked_. There was shouting— _He_ was shouting, but the wind and the thunder was deafening and the water… With sudden, vivid clarity he remembers his arm getting tangled in one of the ropes, and then the wash of a wave that _slammed_ his head into the cargo it was holding down. Then it's just a haze of wind and water and blackness.

He thinks it might be a miracle that he survived.

"Did… Did you find anyone else?" he asks, opening his eyes from where they'd drifted shut.

Roy shakes his head. "No one living. We didn't think you were either, till someone saw you breathing. Do you remember the storm now?"

Jason braces his hands against the deck, shifting up a bit to get his back more firmly against the wood. His arms shake a bit, but he manages it. "Bits and pieces. You're…” He probably shouldn't say it, but he can't quite bring himself to ignore the issue staring him in the face. He braces himself. "You're pirates?"

There's a moment where Roy just looks at him, and then he tilts his head a little bit. "That's right. You're a soldier?"

That confuses him for a moment, before he realizes that his uniform's jacket had been shoved back in his room the moment the storm had threatened, so he could move more freely. Without that jacket, there's no obvious marker of rank on him. He's not recognizable as the captain and more importantly, he doesn't have any of the markers of his house on him; he just looks like another grunt. (That could be good or bad, depending on what kind of pirates these ones are.)

"Yeah," he answers belatedly, hoping it can be chalked up to lingering head trauma. "Yeah, I'm… I'm Gotham navy. We were headed home."

"Gotham, huh?" That gets Roy to smile again, brighter. "We're headed that way; we can drop you off when we get there."

He doesn't quite manage to smile back, but maybe the corner of his mouth twitches a bit. "So I'm not getting thrown back overboard then?"

"Well that seems like a waste of time, doesn't it? Save you just to throw you back to the ocean?" Roy's hand comes forward, clapping the side of his shoulder more than light enough to still be friendly. "You _do_ have a choice though. If you're going to be on the ship, you're either crew or a prisoner. So either you work, and we can assign you a bunk and everything, or you don't and you spend the journey down in the brig instead. You don't have to answer that right now, but it's a question we need answered before you recover."

That's fair. If his ship wasn't military, they might have offered the same to anyone they picked up along the way. "Got it. Um, who's this 'we' you keep mentioning? Are you the captain here, or…?"

At that, Roy grins. "No, not me. I'm first mate." Jason watches him stand, narrowing his eyes against the sun as Roy turns to call, "Kori! He's up!"

Turning his head still results in pain, so Jason just closes his eyes for a moment instead, resting his head back against the rail. It might be easier to swallow now, but the rest of him still feels like… well, like he went through exactly what he did. A shipwreck. He opens his eyes again when he hears footsteps, and for a second he thinks maybe he's hallucinating on top of just being bruised and sore.

The pirate that's come to join Roy is a woman. Tall, with darkly tanned skin, brilliant green eyes, and red hair even longer than Roy's; it falls nearly to her waist in one long, heavy looking braid that looks like it would truly hurt if it smacked him upside the head. She's looking at him with a small smile, bare arms crossed over her chest and hips tilted to one side. Jason swallows, concluding that no, he's not hallucinating. The navy only very rarely takes women, but maybe pirates are more open. He's never been around pirates before, really.

She — Kori? — sinks down into a crouch before him, one arm dropping to brace fingertips against the ground. "Hello there, sailor. What's your name?"

"Jason. You're… Kori?"

Her smile grows a bit. "Koriand'r, yes. Welcome to my ship, Jason. Are you feeling alright?"

The seeming earnestness relaxes him a bit, from the strangeness of facing a woman in such a field. (God knows he's met some scary women during his service, but he doesn't think he's ever been directly under the power of one. It's… different.) "Sore," he answers honestly, "but I think so. Thank you for the rescue."

"He was headed to Gotham," Roy puts in; Jason glances up at him. "We can give him a ride there, right?"

Koriand'r glances up at him as well, then back down to Jason. "I suppose we can, yes. Are you willing to work, Jason?"

He wasn't sure before, but something about that smile and the lack of threat makes him give a small nod. "Yeah. I can do that."

"Excellent." She extends a hand towards him, and after a moment of hesitation, he takes it. Her grip is firm and confident, clasped around his. "Then let us get you set up somewhere you can rest, hm?"

* * *

The ship is a fairly small one — speed over size; common tactic for pirates — but Jason's been on ships pretty much his whole life and that bit doesn't phase him. It's a little weird to be sleeping in a more communal bunking area again instead of his own cabin, but in the end he sinks down into that fairly easily. He's only been a captain a couple years; in terms of actual experience he's more used to these sort of accommodations anyway. He's always tried to keep his association to Bruce as under wraps as possible, especially when he was climbing navy ranks. He wanted to get to the top on his own skill, not just a name and a fancy title, and that meant a lot of hard work but he's never been afraid of that.

Kori and Roy, he finds out pretty much immediately, are a pair. Lovers at the least; he's not sure whether they're actually married and he doesn't quite have the guts to ask with his own somewhat tenuous footing. They're not shy about it, and none of the rest of the crew seem bothered by it at all, except for some good-natured teasing. They must be used to it.

Jason won't admit it to anyone out loud, but he doesn't try to deny to himself that he finds them both very attractive. Partially in looks — his brother's more for redheads than he is, but Jason knows he's got a bit of a thing for longer hair — but also because it becomes clear, very quickly, that they're both just genuinely nice people. Easygoing, leading their crew through respect and what legitimately seems like an almost familial bond, and both of them continue to check in on him as days slide into weeks, making sure that he's alright and settling in.

It's hard, he won't deny that either, but losing his ship and crew isn't nearly as bad as it could have been. This time, like many others, he'd been with an almost entirely fresh crew. A first journey, ferrying them to Gotham and weeding out who can work and who can't, before they get assigned to someone else's command. The only people he really knew on the ship were the skeleton crew that runs with him between those ferrying assignments, and most of those he only keeps for a few trips before they move on too.

He might be a captain, but he's still fresh and he's mostly stuck in doing menial tasks for the time being. It's boring sometimes, but he doesn't really mind teaching the recruits. (There's a guilty part of him that's glad that they were the ones to die; he can't imagine how much harder it would have been to lose a crew that he actually knew and cared for.)

But there's a sort of freedom to _not_ being a soldier, he finds out. Things are looser than a military ship, and it's sort of nice to not be 'the captain.' He can join in on gossiping and stories without the crew worrying about his presence, and half the time Roy or Kori might jump into it too and add their own bits. He only ever hears a word or two of chastisement, and never even a whiff of anger or threatened discipline about that or about any of the work aboard the ship. Everyone knows their jobs and just… does them.

Is that a pirate ship thing, or just the mark of a crew that's actually seasoned and familiar with each other? Whichever it is, Jason really enjoys it. It's relaxing to be able to just lose himself in the work without having to worry about anyone or anything else.

Of course, there's a small part of him that remains worried that they might figure out he's not who they assumed he was. If they find out that he's the son of a lord, what then? He'd make for a decent hostage — Bruce would absolutely pay to have him back — but there's also a possibility that they might just want to send some sort of message. Murdered heirs make good messages.

That thought stays with him even as he comes to know the two of them. As he shares meals and laughter and comes to truly enjoy their company. They seem to get along with everyone, but Jason doesn't think that he's imagining that they seem to especially enjoy his, after a time.

He _knows_ he's not imagining it when, after a dinner and in a more or less private moment, Kori catches his wrist and with a smile and a squeeze of her fingers invites him to join them.

"Both of you?" he echoes dumbly, and she nods. A glance at Roy, who's wearing a crooked grin, confirms it.

Gods help him, but he says yes despite that little nudge of guilt in his chest.

Then he ends up back in their room and against a wall, one of Roy's hands down his pants and the other curled around the back of his neck, and pretty much all thoughts of guilt go away. He's one hundred percent sure that he's never had better sex in his life; Kori happens to like to direct and watch and Jason finds that he's sort of startlingly into that. Not that she doesn't touch, and not that he doesn't get to touch _her_ , but it absolutely feels like the two of them are sharing him more than that he gets to explore them. He's alright with that too.

Morning comes with him waking up between them, Kori's fingers tracing patterns on his back and Roy still solidly asleep with his head pillowed firmly on his shoulder. Jason stays in that moment of peace for as long as possible, letting Roy stay half curled on top of him and enjoying the meandering touches across his back, before Roy finally stirs.

Jason expects to be kicked out, and he wouldn't begrudge them that, but instead Roy just smiles and pulls him into a kiss. Kori laughs, Roy makes a joke, and everything falls into a simple sort of contentment.

He's still a bit surprised by the invitation that comes to join them again, but he accepts that too. He's not sure how it ends up being almost a regular thing — half the nights spent in their bed and half in his own — but he definitely enjoys it. Kori and Roy are just wonderfully easy to be around, and it's… different, to have people beside him that seem to care about and maybe even prioritize his comfort and pleasure. He's had good sex, and passing relationships — not that this is a real _relationship_ — but he's never felt quite so valued by partners before. It's new, and he thinks maybe he's starting to get addicted to it.

It worries him mostly because he knows that all of this is temporary. Soon enough, they'll reach Gotham, and he'll have to leave. There was never any chance of him actually becoming some kind of third partner anyway, but having a set time limit on it makes him cling more greedily to every moment.

When the day finally arrives, it still feels too soon.

The ship is pulled in at the edges of the harbor, all signs of the pirate nature of it hidden away, and the crew dressed into something that looks a bit more like uniforms. It's not a match to Gotham navy colors, but they can pass as private merchants or something similar. It's sort of interesting for him to see how it all works, from an outsider's perspective. There's a part of him filing it away for future use, whenever he meets next meets pirates. It makes him feel a bit guilty to do, but he can't help it.

Standing at the rail, looking out into the city, Jason feels something in him simultaneously relax and draw tight. It's _good_ to be home, it really is, but what he's leaving behind…

Kori comes up next to him, leaning against the rail. Her hair is unbound, spilling in curls down her back, and Jason feels a strong urge to run his fingers through it. He resists, but only barely; it's even harder when she smiles up at him and leans close enough that her shoulder presses into his. He can't help pressing back into the touch.

"So, you are leaving us, yes?"

He nods, closing his eyes for a moment. "Yeah, I guess I am. This is home, you know?"

"I do." One of her hands finds his and clasps it, fingers warm against his skin. "I will miss you, Jason."

His chest hurts for a moment, and he squeezes back. "I'll miss you too."

Jason opens his eyes as footsteps approach; Kori's hand stays around his, and he realizes why a moment later when Roy comes up on his other side. Roy smiles at him, settling back against the rail to look at both of them. "Sharing last goodbyes?" is the teasing question.

Kori smiles past him. "That we are. Would you like to offer your own, Roy?"

"Oh, absolutely." Roy shifts in, and Jason takes a sharp breath the moment before a hand curls into his hair and pulls him into a kiss. In full view of anyone walking by, and that makes him tense up for a second before the kiss itself drives the tension from him. They've shared kisses outside of private rooms before, but never quite so publicly as this. It thrills him and scares him all at once.

His eyes stay closed as Roy pulls away, with a last pass of fingers down the the side of his jaw and then a soft press of lips to his cheek.

"Thanks for the time, sailor," is murmured into his ear, and he can't help but shiver, want sliding down his spine to pool lazily at the base of it.

Guilt strikes him hard the next moment, and he bows his head with a whispered, " _Fuck_."

They're such _kind_ people, and he's been lying to them right from the start. They think he's something that he isn't, and he took advantage of them when they don't even know who he really is. He knows that he had to, that the chance of being imprisoned or ransomed or something far worse was too high for him to be honest about all of it, but what about later? What about after he'd shared nights with them? What about when he knew that they were decent, friendly people? What was stopping him then?

What's stopping him now?

"Jason?" Roy sounds concerned, and that solidifies the desire in his chest to come clean.

He opens his eyes and steps back, pulling his hand free of Kori's and lifting his head to look both of them in the eye. "I've been lying to you," he says plainly, pushing away that last bit of doubt. "I'm not just a sailor; I was the captain of the wreck you pulled me out of, and I'm the son of Gotham's Lord Wayne." He swallows. "I'm sorry. You've both been _so_ good to me, this whole time, and I should have told you the truth much sooner. If you want to uh, ransom me back to him I'm sure he'd pay. Or if you come with me I can make sure you get some sort of reward; I'd like to thank you, somehow. Whatever I can do."

The two of them share a glance, and Jason tries not to read into their expressions. Then, Kori turns to him, smiles at him. "I am Princess Koriand'r, of the land of Tamaran. My sister exiled me when she took the throne."

Roy gives a crooked grin, lifts a hand to his own chest. "Bastard son of Lord Queen, of Starling. So apparently you're not the only noble on the ship.”

Jason blinks and stares at them, and slowly relief creeps up into his chest alongside something like hope. “You’re not angry, then?”

Kori shakes her head, and a moment later offers him a hand. “It is nice to meet you, Jason. For the second time.”

He relaxes as he shakes it, and something like a smile curls one corner of his mouth. “Yeah, you too, Princess.” Roy’s smile is an encouraging thing, and Jason gives a snort before he asks, “So, do you want that reward?”

They share another look, and Roy's smile turns to a grin. "Yeah, I think we can _always_ use more money, honestly. Lead the way, Jason."

* * *

Jason had forgotten, till he had to make the trip again, how far out Bruce's manor is. The route from the docks winds all the way through town and out into the hills, passing the iron fence that rings the property through the left-open gate. He hasn't been back in over a year now, but everything looks just about the same. Green, somewhat overgrown grass that turns into an enormous, neatly maintained lawn, interrupted by the gravel and stone of the pathways carved into it. The manor itself feels larger than it used to, looming higher as their hired cart draws closer.

He has to push himself into moving when the cart finally draws to a stop, dropping down onto the gravel and — after a steadying breath — heading for the front door. Behind him, he hears Roy ask the driver to wait for them.

He knows that the both of them are just behind him, but it still feels like he climbs the steps and reaches the door alone. Standing here, about to face whatever reaction his apparent death has earned — if Bruce has even heard of it yet — it suddenly scares him. What if Bruce is angry? Confrontational? What if he's already been forgotten? It's completely illogical, but he still has to take another slow breath before he finds the courage to reach forward and lift the heavy knocker at the front, bringing it down three times in sharp succession before he can hesitate again.

Glancing over his shoulder lets him see both Roy and Kori, standing one step down, and that does more to ease him than the breathing's even begun to manage.

The door opens and Jason looks back; his gaze fixes on a chest both broader and higher off the ground than he was expecting to see, and he has to flick his gaze higher to actually find a face. Bruce's face. He was expecting a buffer in the form of Alfred opening the door, not Bruce himself, and being suddenly confronted with him steals every hint of words right out of his mouth. He stares; Bruce stares back.

Then the moment breaks, and Bruce steps forward and sweeps him into an embrace with both arms, holding him tight enough it almost hurts. The, " _Jason_ ," is rich with emotion, and he finds his hands rising somewhat without his permission, clinging to the familiarity of the finely made clothing and the broad frame below it.

He hadn't really let himself spend too much time thinking about it, but when he inhales and the smell of Bruce's cologne sinks down into his chest, it hits him how close he came to not making it back. If the wreck had happened any differently, or Kori and Roy had been anyone but who they are… Just one small thing, and he might never have come home again.

He keeps his head buried down against Bruce's shoulder for as long as he can manage; for as long as Bruce's arms stay tight and don't seem to want to let him go (and he doesn't want to let go either). Finally he feels Bruce take a deep breath, and a moment later the arms around him start to loosen. He almost doesn't want to, but Jason makes himself follow the silent cue and let go so that Bruce can draw back and look him in the eye. The hand stay on his arms though, holding him in place as Bruce just _looks_ at him.

"I heard your ship went down. We thought…” The hands on his arms flex tighter for a moment, before Bruce finishes, "It's good to have you home, Jason."

"It's good to be home." Jason takes a breath, and then pulls one arm free of the hand on it so he can turn and gesture towards Roy and Kori. "Bruce, this is Roy, and Captain Koriand'r. They pulled me out of the wreck; they saved my life."

He looks back in time to see the end of Bruce's considering flick of his gaze over the two pirates. "I have the two of you to thank for my son's survival?"

"We were as surprised to find him alive down there as you are now," Roy admits, with a crooked, nearly sheepish grin. "We picked him up, but some other miracle was responsible for keeping him alive through the storm."

"He more than pulled his weight on the voyage here," Kori adds, with a smile aimed at Jason. "It was lovely to have him on board, sir."

Bruce looks at them a moment longer, long enough that Jason turns his head back to make sure that things are alright. "Thank you for your assistance," he says, just before things start to edge into awkward. "Are you… merchants, then? Or…?”

Jason can tell by the tone that it's not a real question, and he slips his way back into the conversation before they can try to lie to Bruce. "I was hoping that we could give them some sort of reward. Just something to say thank you."

Another moment of silence. Then Bruce looks to him, inclining his head. "Of course." He leans in, and there's a murmur directly into Jason's ear of, "This is a reward, not a ransom. Right? They can be handled, if there's a problem."

He barely resists rolling his eyes, and doesn't quite contain the wince. "No, it's just a reward, I promise. They've been nothing but kind; it was my idea."

"Good." The hand on Jason's arm squeezes, then lets go, and Bruce looks to Kori and Roy. "Allow me a minute to collect something suitable. Jason, if you would stay with our guests, I'll be back in just a minute."

There's not actual waiting for his answer. Bruce steps back, turns on his heel, and strides off deeper into the manor, quickly vanishing behind one of the doors. Without him there, it all suddenly seems very quiet. At least until Jason hears footsteps, and looks back to see Roy and Kori approaching him. Roy's arm slings around his shoulders, pulling him in as Kori walks up beside them.

"So, you grew up here?" Roy asks, half his weight leaning into Jason's side. "Fancy place."

"Well, partially. Bruce took me in when I was a kid; stayed till I was old enough to join the navy." He shrugs, lifting his gaze to pass over the ceiling, the shadows and the lights… "I don't come back as much as the family probably wants, but that's sort of common for all of us. Most of us are… wanderers."

Kori draws his attention when she asks, sounding somewhat amused, "Big family?"

He snorts. "Yeah. One older brother, three younger ones, and three sisters. Most of it's not by blood, but they're still family."

Jason lowers his gaze when Kori steps close, and then reaches up to take his head in both hands. She leans down and presses a soft kiss to his forehead, lingering for a moment before drawing away and smiling at him. "You will do well, Jason. I am sure of it. You have a good spirit, and a bright mind; life will treat you kind."

A joke is the first thing that comes to mind, but he swallows it down. Instead, he manages a low, "Thank you. I… I really will miss you both."

"And we you," she murmurs back. "But life takes us different ways. You have a family here, and you will find others who will appreciate you as we do. Thank you for the time you spent with us, Jason."

Roy presses a kiss to the side of his head before the both of them let go. "Agreed. Thanks, Jason."

Bruce walks in just a moment after they've let go, and Jason does his best to hide anything that might give away the pang in his heart as both Roy and Kori turn to face him. He's only half paying attention as Bruce approaches, handing a pouch over to Kori that clinks with the familiar sound of coin. There are open smiles, a nod from Bruce, some conversation he only somewhat hears, and then they turn to leave. Bruce's arm settles around his shoulders, and it feels heavier than Roy's did, even though Bruce is resting very little actual weight on him.

Kori smiles at him before they slip through the door, and Jason feels that pain in his chest crack wider.

"Bruce?" he starts, a little hesitantly. "How mad would you be if I became a pirate?"

There's a hard moment of silence after his question, and he swallows. Then, Bruce hedges, "It would be shameful to the family. Our reputation would suffer."

It's not exactly an answer, and something reckless and nearly desperate rises up his throat and makes him ask, "What if no one knows I'm alive? I mean, you know, but no one else needs to. They could just assume that I really did die in the shipwreck. Not the family, but if you don't tell anyone else…”

Bruce sighs. "Do you love her?"

That same reckless something has him correcting, "Them. Yes, I… I think so."

The arm on his shoulders slides off. "Then go," is the granted permission. Jason looks up, startled, and Bruce's eyes are narrowed, mouth set in a hard line. "You send a letter with the name of this ship and where you're headed when you get back to the docks. You send one at every single port you stop at, clear? That's my condition."

Jason's shoulders ease down, and that reckless something brightens. "Deal. I promise I will."

He can see the small struggle in Bruce's gaze, but then there's a second sigh and a hand reaches out to pull him into a gentle embrace. "Go, Jason. Be safe. Be happy."

"Thank you," he murmurs into Bruce's shoulder. One hand pats his back before Bruce lets him go, and nods towards the door.

He goes. Not quite running, but hurrying. If they've left already… If the driver is gone…

He pushes open the door and steps outside, letting it fall shut behind him as he lifts his head to look. Kori's in the cart already, offering Roy a hand; he hurries down the stairs and maybe it's the movement, or the sound of his steps, but both of them look up. Jason all but trips down the last step, coming up in front of them and looking up. His words catch in his throat a little bit, but he swallows to force the blockage away so he can speak.

"I was wondering. Could I come with you?"

They look at each other, and smile.

**Author's Note:**

> [You can find my Tumblr here!](http://skalidra.tumblr.com/)


End file.
